The Americanchie
Curtis - December, 2018
Awhile ago we were joking (somewhat) about giving this variation of a Frenchie a new name. Given that it's got a few different materials, including Coq De Leon "center" tail for the body, I suggested the Spanish Frenchie. Lance suggested Americanchie because of the Americanized flavor of the Coq De Leon and other materials and that's what stuck. If you're not a huge fan of Coq De Leon (CDL), you should be. The CDL we use on this pattern and pretty much all the CDL we sell in our shops is from Whiting Farms. The CDL line from Dr. Whiting comes from a small flock of birds imported directly from León, Spain in the 1990's, so this is the real deal. And what we have gained over the years with Dr. Whiting's genetic wizardry is a much wider selection of CDL birds and associated products while still keeping the pure line intact as well. The tail on this comes from a CDL Rooster that been bred for longer saddle feathers while still retaining the speckling and bronzing on the original. One saddle probably will last a lifetime. The body is where we introduce something likely not seen by a lot of people in the past. A little over two years ago, Cheech and I were given some sample CDL tail feathers from Whiting to try and incorporate into our tying materials. We both realized the feathers would be ideal for the same types of applications that use the standard Pheasant tail feathers. They work great! So earlier this year we worked with Whiting to package these tail feathers and allow us to sell them. We would recommend you use the fibers from about the upper 2nd half of the feathers as they're stronger than the ones at the lower end. You can still use the lower half fibers for actual tailing or even wing cases, so you get good bang for the buck. And finally, the soft hackle comes from our search for a good Partridge substitute and we saw these awesomely mottled little Brahma wings while visiting Whiting Farms a couple months back. Turns out these wings were likely on their way to the compost pile until we were able to look them over and realized they would be a great option for soft hackles. They have a good size range from as small as #18's up to probably #8's or #10's. And while they don't have as many overall feathers that you'll see on a Hungarian Partridge, you also don't pay as much. Plus they're gray, which is a plus for a lot of people.
- Hook: Hanak H 400 BL Jig Hook - 14
- Thread: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Red
- Bead: Mottled Tactical Slotted Tungsten Beads - Hare's Ear Brown - 7/64" (2.8mm)
- Tail: Whiting Coq De Leon Tailing Packs - Medium Pardo
- Weight: Lead Wire Spool - .015
- Abdomen: Whiting Coq De Leon Tail Feathers
- Ribbing: UTC Ultra Wire - Copper Brown - Small
- Hot Spot: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Red
- Soft Hackle: Whiting Brahma Wing Soft Hackle Pair
- Thorax: Ice Dub - UV Shrimp Pink
- Tools Used: C&F Design Rotary Hackle Pliers, Stonfo Pinza Elite Hackle Pliers - Standard,
